Connecting with industry (2017)

An ENZ team led by Chief Executive Grant McPherson and General Manager Industry Development, Greg Scott has wrapped up the Connect roadshow. This was a 10-day national tour that brought the international education conversation to industry professionals across the country.

A Connect seminar in Tauranga.

The 2017 Connect roadshow attracted 250 participants in eight sessions and offered an opportunity for ENZ to update participants on what’s happening globally and nationally in international education, to share ENZ’s strategic direction for the coming year and to receive feedback from industry.

Greg said ENZ currently has four strategic priorities: leading international education in thinking and implementation, telling our stories in New Zealand, driving more value to New Zealand through student mobility and supporting offshore delivery for value to New Zealand.

“In these sessions we were able to share with industry what we have done and what we plan to do to meet these goals,” said Greg.

“We then heard directly from providers about what ENZ initiatives they value the most, and how we could better help them.”

Better market intelligence was a common theme in feedback from attendees. There was therefore a positive response to the news that, in August, ENZ will launch Intellilab, a new intelligence portal that will serve as a one-stop-shop for easily accessible data to help providers make well-informed decisions.

Providers also said they appreciated the opportunity to talk directly with senior ENZ staff, to ask questions and to network with other industry professionals.

“We’re taking this on-board. Going forward, Connect will be a regular part of our annual calendar,” said Greg.

Attendees also noted that telling the international education story in New Zealand should be a key priority for ENZ.

“Because we’re in this industry, we see the richness, diversity and global connectedness that international students bring everyday – but that often isn’t reflected in the media,” said Greg.

“We encourage providers to share their own stories with media as often as possible.”

Greg said it is an exciting time to be involved in international education and that the Connect sessions provided a chance to celebrate what the industry has achieved over the past nine months.

“We know there are challenges but there’s also lots to be proud of. Connect was a chance to remind us all of this.”

ENZ is currently collating feedback from the sessions to be sent out with the Connect presentation to attendees later this month.